To
paraphrase Bob Tucker ’65, “What a week!”
Known to
most of his friends and colleagues as “Tuck,” the popular
founder and director of the Monmouth College All-Sports Camp
often shouts “What a day!” to his campers, who then respond
back with the same phrase in unison.
This
year’s response was the loudest ever at Monmouth, with 240
boys and girls present for the week-long camp. That number
is up from the initial 69 that attended in 2005 and 170 from
a year ago.
“That’s
the way we started at Loras, too,” said Tucker, a retired
physical education professor and coach at the college,
located in Dubuque, Iowa.
Today, he and his wife, Judy Hodges Tucker ’65, oversee four
week-long camps at Loras, with more than 2,300 boys and
girls passing through annually.
“We hope
to have more than 300 (at Monmouth) next year, and I think
we can take a maximum of 400,” said Tucker, whose first camp
at Loras was in 1983. “If we start getting numbers like
that, we can look at having camp here on back-to-back weeks,
meaning we could have 800 kids pass through in a year. The
future for the camp is really positive. I can’t see why it
won’t take off.”
Besides
being unique in its multiple-sports format – campers select
one major area of concentration and two minors – the camp
also seeks to instill Christian values. The reward for a job
well-done is a fraternity-style paddle, which is then
branded with up to eight symbols, representing the camp’s
“M-C P-A-D-D-L-E” ideals: Mercy, Christianity, Perseverance,
Attitude, Dedication, Discipline, Loyalty and Enthusiasm.
“We’re
unique in that we have a sports camp that promotes Christian
values,” said Tucker. “We use sports as a vehicle to develop
those values.”
“I
strongly encourage parents to take the opportunity to send
their kids to this camp,” said staff member Rich Weitz, who
has been involved in 19 of the 25 years of camp at Loras, as
well as all three Monmouth camps. “They get the opportunity
to be better as a person through athletics. The camp doesn’t
stress being the best athlete, it stresses being a good
person.”
Weitz,
who is originally from Dubuque
and now teaches and coaches at
St. James Academy in Kansas
City, remembers looking at the
opportunity as a chance to “have three camps in one,
essentially.” He took advantage of instruction in football,
basketball and baseball, but now wishes he had looked into
some of the other options, such as golf.
“I had
such a great, positive experience,” he said. “Everything was
positive. You didn’t have to be the best athlete to have
success. I was being rewarded for the kind of person I was
and for the attributes that people saw in me. I also
remember building relationships with people from different
cities.”
It’s
those relationships that Weitz has come to cherish through
the years. He’s grown close to the Tuckers, but he also has
many “close friends to this day” among the staff and campers
he’s encountered. The other camp aspect he genuinely enjoys
is “getting to watch kids develop athletically and develop
their character … For me, the best part of camp is Tuesday,
when kids have broken out of their shell a bit. They begin
to understand the routine, and they get to know the kids in
their groups better.”
 |
|
Campers practice a basketball
rebounding drill in the Huff Athletic Center. [Print-quality
image] |
While
they warm up to their fellow campers, they also soak in a
good deal of knowledge about campus. In fact, in a survey of
incoming freshmen at Loras, 25 percent reported that they
had their first experience with the school by attending an
all-sports camp there when they were younger.
Even
campers from Monmouth see the campus in a different light,
said Judy. “The community has really embraced the program.
Most of the local campers overnight now, rather than going
home.”
As
Monmouth’s numbers grow, the Tuckers envision adding to the
11 majors and minors currently offered, with activities
such as fishing, horseback riding, archery, bowling and rock
climbing.
The
Tuckers believe there are many reasons the camp should keep
on growing. First and foremost, said Judy, is that “the
facilities at Monmouth are just tremendous. All the
residence halls are air-conditioned, and everything is so
new here. The facilities are also close enough that everyone
can get to them easily. It’s a very enclosed, safe
environment. Another real plus is the food. The counselors
love it. The food service has been so good to us.”
She
added, “We’ve gotten such great support from the college,
and we have a lot of cheerleaders on campus. We especially
want to thank Karen Ogorzalek and Molly McNamara for all
their hard work behind the scenes. The Monmouth people have
been so welcoming, and they’re always asking what they can
do to help.”
What
those off-campus can do is spread the word about the unique
summer opportunity for children ages 7 to 13. For more
information about the Monmouth All-Sports Camp or to sign up
for the fourth annual camp in 2008, go to
www.monm.edu/allsportscamp.htm.
